Quotes
by smrozier
Summary: Grissom and Sara investigate a case chalk full of emotional ties. Grissom quotes. Sara rambles. Grissom has a revelation. GS


Title: Quotes  
Author: smrozier  
Rating: PG

Summary: Grissom and Sara investigate a case chalk full of emotional ties. Grissom quotes. Sara rambles. Grissom has a revelation. GS

A/N: I've had all the quotes for a while, trying to find the right moment to use them. But alas, I'm like Nick – when Grissom quotes people, he sounds smart. When I quote people, I watch too much tv. (or read too much! If there's such a thing!) So I decide to drop them all into a story. RESOLVE is a real organization, which can be found at resolve (dot) org. Enjoy! Reviews are appreciated.

* * *

"Sofia. Greg. You have a DB at the Bellagio. Brass is there. Sara. You and I have a DB in Henderson. That's all so far." 

"So, you gonna fill me in on what we know?" Sara asked once they were in the Tahoe.

"Thirty-two year old woman dead. Sylvia Clemmons. Suspicious circs - seemingly DFO'd. Survived by an eighteen-month-old child." Grissom rattled off the facts.

"Is the child with it's father?" Sara asked.

"No. With the child's guardians, Charlie and Terri Hughes."

* * *

Once they had collected the evidence, they headed back to the lab. Not that there was much to be analyzed. No signs of struggle. No blood. No signs of forced entry. It really was starting to look as if Sylvia Clemmons had DFO. They would have to wait on Doc and the autopsy to confirm. In the meantime, they headed over to the victim's friends (and the child's guardians) to find out more about the victim. 

"Mr. & Mrs. Hughes, I'm Gil Grissom from the LVPD Crime Lab and this is Sara Sidle. May we come in?"

They settled into the living room and Mrs. Hughes offered coffee. Just as they were about to get down to business, they heard a door creak open and then the padding of little feet down the hall.

"Please excuse me a moment." She left, and came back in with an adorable toddler. Grissom and Sara exchanged looks, and, seeing this, Mrs. Hughes confirmed their suspicions. "This is Sylvia's daughter." She paused, and tears filled her eyes. "I guess I mean 'was'. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that she's gone. This is Miriam." She smiled. "Sylvia and Don always did like old fashioned names."

"Don?" Sara inquired.

"Don was Sylvia's husband. He did in a car accident when Miriam was about six months old. Terrible. It's so sad that Miriam will never remember her parents. They loved her so very much." By the time she finished speaking, Terri's voice was no more than a whisper.

"'Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.' That's been our motto." Charlie joined.

"Robert Schuller. A very wise motto." Grissom acknowledged. "How did the two of you meet the Clemmons?"

"At a RESOLVE meeting." Noticing that the name struck no recognition, Charlie continued. "It's an infertility support group. We met there about five years ago. We hit it off and have been best friends since."

"So the two of you…do you have children of your own?" Sara asked, as delicately as she could.

"No. We have been TTC – that's 'trying to conceive' – for seven years. Since I was 26. We've gone as far as we're willing to with treatments, we're not willing to have egg/sperm donors or do in vitro fertilization. So, we've been looking into adoption. But that is how Sylvia and Don conceived…through in vitro."

"Donation and IVF procedures aren't for everyone. Many people have objections on moral, ethical, or religious grounds. I can imagine that they are hard decisions to make." Grissom conjectured.

Charlie nodded. "This is true. Donation just doesn't sit well with us personally, and the success rate with IVF is not all that high. And since adoption has always been in the backs of our minds, we decided to mourn the loss of the biological child we never had and move on to adopting a child of our very own. I recently heard a speaker say 'Nothing great is ever accomplished without sacrifice.' That's how we're looking at it, we may never have a biological child, but adopting a child, and giving that child a better life, is the greatest gift we could give."

"'Sometimes a goal is so worthy, it is glorious even to fail'?" Grissom tilted his head in question.

"Seems Charlie has found himself a rival for spouting off quotes that are seemingly pulled from thin air! I suspect the two of you would get along famously! Terri laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "To answer your question – or quote – yes, that's how we feel."

* * *

As they walked through the lab's parking lot, Sara commented, "They seem very well adjusted." At Grissom's look, she explained, "I just mean, while I can't imagine myself as a mom, I cannot imagine not being able to have a child. That's something people tend to take for granted. I guess the upside is not having to worry about birth control." 

Grissom smirked. "Let's go see if Al has anything for us." Holding open the door to let Sara slide by, he added, "After you."

* * *

"So, no crime. She just fell over dead. Well, not really. I mean, an undiagnosed heart problem?" Sara fell unceremoniously into a break room chair, shaking her head and muttering under her breath. 

"You okay?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah. It's just so bittersweet, you know? That little girl has already lost her father and mother. She probably won't remember them. And while, it definitely looks like she's going to have a wonderful life – the Hughes seem like great people – she just should've had more time with her parents. And the Hughes, I'm sure they're glad they have a child - or children when they adopt – I'd be willing to bet they'd like to have their friends back. What's with me? I'm rambling. This kind of case usually doesn't bother me, that's Catherine's bag. I don't know. It's just sad. It's ending as well as it can, under these circumstances, but still…I don't know what I mean. Just ignore me." '_Damn hormones'_ she added mentally.

"Henry Drummond once said, 'You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.' I believe things are ending as they should." Grissom said. Then he blinked as the quote sunk in.

This time it was Sara's turn to smirk, as she said, "You know, I can drop quotes like you and Charlie. I just usually don't. According to Mark Twain, 'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do ... Explore. Dream. Discover.'" Satisfied, she reclined in her chair.

"Sara, let's not be disappointed. Have dinner with me." Grissom declared. There was no mask at this moment, just eyes that shone with hope.

They reflected Sara's, as she answered "Yes. Absolutely."

End


End file.
